Pascal, 29, was born in Haiti but he moved with his mom to Fort Lauderdale, FL when he was 11 years old. After High School, Pascal moved to Tampa, FL to attend the University of South Florida (USF), where he studied Management. Looking to “conquer new territories,” in the summer of 2014 Pascal decided to move to Houston, Texas, where he currently resides.
Pascal’s hobbies include running, traveling, bowling, fashion, and volunteering. He also has a passion for personal development.
“I’m really into developing myself and helping others to reach their full potential. I enjoy reading self-help books and listening to audiobooks while I commute. I enjoy learning, watching documentaries… I like to be productive with my time. I’d rather do something that’s productive than to have entertainment. I like the idea of getting better every single second in life.”
Pascal’s stuttering life didn’t start easy, “When I first started stuttering I hated it. I hated not being able to communicate as easy as everyone else. It forced me to be quiet and pretended as if I was shy,” he says. Later in life, he started attending speech therapy on campus at USF, “the most memorable thing is that it was very practical, the SLP’s had us walk around campus to speak to random people to practice our speech. I loved that part of it,” he remembers.
It was through his time in said speech therapy program that he got involved with the NSA, and he hasn’t looked back since, “I’m not sure what my first impression was but I remembered that I stuttered a lot in my first meeting. It was very severe. But I felt comfortable because everyone else in the room stuttered too. I felt that it was a safe place to express myself,” he remembers.
Pascal’s leadership instincts showed right way, “I decided to become a leader when the opportunity came because at that point in my life, I felt like I had overcame my stutter. I still stuttered but I no longer considered it to be a hinder. With that mentality, I felt that I can help inspire other people who stutter to have to same mindset and be driven to succeed in whatever they want to pursue in life in spite of their stutter.”
His message to the stuttering community is simple, yet powerful: “You can still be whatever you want to be in spite of your stutter. It does not make you any less than anyone.” He is also quick to point out that stuttering and being great at communicating are not mutually exclusive, “just because you stutter, it does not mean you cannot be a great communicator. It takes more than being able to speak works fluently to be a great communicator. You need caring, compassion and persistence in your words, which are qualities instilled in every person who stutter. You are still great in your own way.”
Pascal is the current leader of the Houston Chapter.
Author David Alpuche was born and raised in México City, where he lived most of his life before calling Dallas, TX home. He has been stuttering since the age of four, though his outlook on stuttering has changed drastically. David attended his first NSA conference in Ft. Worth in 2011, and says life hasn’t been the same since. Professionally, David is a full-time photographer (mostly weddings, photojournalism and fine art) who dabbles in writing and translating. He is the current Chapter Leader of the Dallas, TX Adult NSA Chapter, and was awarded Chapter Leader of the Year (with co-leader Sivan) in 2017. David has been commissioned to write a series of spotlight pieces on our Chapter Leaders and Regional Chapter Coordinators.
